23. COMMENTARY OF SŪRAT AL-MĀ‘ŪN (Q. 107)

1 23. COMMENTARY OF “Ū‘AT AL-MĀ ŪN (Q. 107) This sūrat al-Mā ū (Qu ān, chapter 107) was a Makkan o e, e ealed i i Makkah, efo e the P ophet s ig atio to Madinah. It consists of seven verses. The commentary of this chapter is as follows: َ َ‫َ لََيحض‬.ََ ‫َفذل ََالَذ َيدعََ ْاليتي‬.ََ‫أرأ ْي ََالَذ َيك ِذ ََب ل ِدين‬ َ .َ‫َالَذينََه ََْعنََْصَت ََْس ه ن‬.َ‫َََف يْلََل ْمص ِين‬.َ‫ع َطع ََ ْالمسْ كين‬ َ ) - :َ‫َ يمْ نع نََ ْالم ع نََ( ْالم ع ن‬.َ‫الَذينََه ََْيراء ن‬ Have you seen him who denies the Recompense? That is he who repulses the orphan (harshly), And urges not on the feeding of the needy, So, woe to those performers of Ṣalāt (prayers) (hypocrites), Those who delay their Ṣalāt, Those who do good deeds only to be seen (of men), And withhold al-Mā ū (small kindness like salt, sugar, water) (Q. 107:1-7) (The No le Qur ā : Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) The name of the surah, namely al-Mā ū , is translated by Pickthall, Ali, a d Asad as s all ki d ess, the eigh ou l eeds, a d assista e espe ti el . The commentary: َ‫أرأ ْي ََالَذ َيك ِذ ََب ل ِدين‬ Have you seen him who denies the Recompense? M.M. Pi kthall: Hast thou o ser ed hi ho elieth religio ? A.Y. Ali: See you one who denies the Judgment (to come)? M. Asad: Hast thou e er o sidered [the ki d of a ] ho gi es the lie to all oral la ? As the term dī means eligio , e o pe se a d judg e t ea h of the a o e t a slato s used o e of the , e ept Asad, ho t a slates it all o al la a d e plai s his easo , a el , that the e is a o je ti e validity in religion as such and, thus in the concept of moral law (which is one of the primary connotation of the term dī …. Some commentators 2 are of the opinion that in the above context dī signifies judgement , i.e. the Day of Judgment, and interpret this phrase as meaning who calls the Day of Judgment a lie. (M. Asad, The Message of the Qur ān, p. 979, n.1) Who were they who denied the Recompense or Judgement intended in this surah? (1) al- Āṣ i Wā il al-“ah ī, a o di g to I A ās, al-Kal ī, a d Mu ātil; al-Walīd i al-Mughī ah, a o di g to al-“uddī; A i Ā id, a o di g to al-Ḍaḥḥāk; (4) an unidentified hypocrite, also according to al-Ḍaḥḥāk, and Ibn A ās (5 A ū “uf ā , a o di g to I Jurayj; he slaughtered a camel every week (?), and one day an o pha egged hi fo eat, ut A ū “uf ā hit hi ith his stick, so, the above surah (chapter) was re ealed; A ū Jahl, according to unidentified mufassir Qu a o e tato . َ ‫فذل ََالَذ َيدعََ ْاليتي‬ That is he who repulses the orphan (harshly) M.M. Pi kthall: That is he who repelleth the orphan A.Y. Ali: Then such is the (man) who repulses the orphan (with harshness) M. Asad: Behold, it is this [kind of man] that thrusts the orphan a ay, Al-Ḍaḥḥāk epo ted f o I A ās: he is the one who neglects the orphan and deprives him from his right. Qatādah: he is the one who subjugates and wrongs him. They said that the Arabs in pre-Islamic Arabia did not give share of inheritance. They said inheritance was only for persons who stab with spearheads a d st ike ith s o ds , namely, for males only, not for females and children. The Prophet mentions the merit of taking care of the orphans. He said: َ ‫منََْض َََيتي ًم َبيْنََمسْ ميْنََإل َطع مهََ شرابهََح َت‬ )‫َ جب ََْل َهَ ْالج َن ََ ْالب َت ََ(ر اهَالطبراني‬،‫يسْ ت ْغنيََع ْنه‬ Whoever takes care of an orphan of Muslim parents with his foods and drinks until he satisfies with it 3 Allah would definitely make Paradise indispensable for him. (Reported by al-Ṭa ā ī A similar ḥadīth as also epo ted I ā Aḥmad. َ‫لََيحضَ ع َطع ََ ْالمسْ كين‬ And urges not on the feeding of the needyَ M.M. Pi kthall: And urgeth not the feeding of the needy A.Y. Ali: A d e ourages ot the feedi g of the i dige t M. Asad: and feels no urge to feed the needy This verse means that the person does not urge people on feeding the poor because he himself is miser and does not believe in recompense, that good and evil deeds will be rewarded and punished respectively. People will enter Hell because, among other things, as e tio ed i the Qu ān, ) : ‫لَيحضََع َطع ََ ْالمسْ كينََ(الح ق‬ … a d he urged ot o the feedi g of the needy (Q. 69:34) Those stingy people who ignored the poor, when they were asked the motive of ignoring them, their answer would be َ َ‫أن ْطع ََمنََْل ََْيش َء‬ َ) :‫ََّأ ْطعم َهَ(يس‬ … “hall e feed those ho , if Allah illed, He (Himself) would have fed...َ(Q. 36:47) َ َ‫َالَذينََه ََْعنََْصَت ََْس ه ن‬.َ‫ف يْلََل ْمص ِين‬. So, woe to those performers of Ṣalāt (prayers) (hypocrites), Those who delay their Ṣalāt M.M. Pi kthall: Ah, woe unto worshippers, Who are heedless of their prayer A.Y. Ali: So woe to the worshippers, Who are neglectful of their prayer M. Asad: Woe, then, unto those praying ones, whose hearts from their prayer are remote I A ās reported by al-Ḍaḥḥāk -: They are people who pray without expecting reward from their prayer, and do not fear of any punishment by neglecting it. They are people who delay the time of prayer. They are hypocrites who 4 pray just to be seen. I A ās says further that the term wayl oe he e ea s a se e e pu ish e t i Hell. َ Al-Ḍaḥḥāk also as ell as I āhī reported by al-Mughī ah: they delay the times of prayers, they neglect them. I āhī also: those who prostrate in prayer but they raise their heads and turned them. A ū l-Āli ah: the do ot p a o ti e, and they do not perform bowing and prostration completely in their prayer. Quṭ u : The eithe ead the Qu ān, nor remember Allah. َ‫الَذينََه ََْيراء ن‬ Those who do good deeds only to be seen (of men) M.M. Pi kthall: Who would be seen (at worship) A.Y. Ali: Those who a t ut to e see of e M. Asad: those ho a t o ly to e see a d praised The showing off is either orally or by action. Orally by showing resentment against people whose concern is on worldly matters ( ‫)أهل َالدني‬, and showing admonition and regret of missing good deeds and obedience. Showing off by action is in performing the prayer and in giving charity, or praying better to be seen by people. A man was said to have performed a long grateful prostration in the mosque, and it was said to him that performing this long prostration at home would have been better to avoid showing off. َ‫ع ن‬ َ ‫ي ْمنع نََ ْالم‬ And withhold al-Mā ū s all ki d ess like salt, sugar, water) M.M. Pi kthall: Yet refuse small kindness! A.Y. Ali: But refuse to supply e e eigh ourly eeds. M. Asad: and, withal, deny all assistance [to their fellowmen]. Asad explains the meaning of the term al- ā ū as follo s: The te al- ā ū comprises the many small items eeded fo o e s daily use, as well as the occasional acts of ki d ess o sisti g i helpi g out o e s fello -men with such 5 items. In its wider sense, it de otes aid o people who need help. assista e to Al-Qurṭu ī e tio s t el e ie s o this last e se, as follows: 1. Al- ā ū is the zakat of wealth, a o di g to Ali, and Ibn A ās a o di g to al-Ḍaḥḥāk. They are the hypocrites. The hypocrites pray in hypocrisy. Mālik said that if they miss the prayer they would not regret for it. They refuse to pay the zakat (the obligatory charity). Zayd ibn Aslam said that if the prayer could be performed secretly like paying zakat, those hypocrites would not have done it. AlṬa a ī i luded those who said that al- ā ū was the zakat I U a , Qatādah, al-Ḥasa , a d “a īd i Ju a . 2. Al- ā ū is the wealth in the Quraysh language, according to I “hihā a d “a īd ibn al-Musayyab. 3. Al- ā ū is household utensils, such as axes, the cooking pots, fire, etc., according I Mas ūd a d I A ās 4. Al- ā ū in pre-Islamic Arabia is any useful thing, such as an axe, a cooking pot, a leather bucket, a flint, anything big or small. 5. Al- ā ū is so ethi g o o ed, a o di g to Mujāhid, and epo ted f o I A ās. 6. Al- ā ū is anything people are occupied with among themselves ( ‫س َفيم َبيْن‬ َ ‫ف َك َه َالَذ َيتع ط َه َال َن‬ َ ‫) ْالمعْ ر‬, according to Muḥa ad i Ka and al-Kal ī. 7. Al- ā ū is water and pastureََ)َ‫َ( ْالم َءَ ْالكل‬ 8. Al- ā ū is water only. 9. Al- ā ū َ is the truth, the right thing ( َِ ‫)َ ْالح‬ 1. Al- ā ū is using the benefit of wealthَ َ‫َ( ْالمسْ تغلَ َمنَْ َمن فع‬ َََََ)َ‫ْاْ ْم ال‬ 11. Al- ā ū is obedience 12. Al- ā ū is probably something light and easy but made heavy and difficult by Allah, according to al-Mā a dī. Another view is that al- ā ū are three things which have to be shared with people, namely: water, salt, fire, including 6 ate of the ell. I A ās e tio ed the diffe e t ie s of people about the meaning of al- ā ū : zakat, obedience, and borrowed objects. Ik i ah the a lā (freed slave) of I A ās said that the maximum of al- ā ū is the zakat, and its minimum are borrowed objects. He was asked whether the woe was to any person who withholds (refuses) al- ā ū . He replied that he was, if he combined the three things mentioned in this sūrah, namely, he neglected the prayer, he was a hypocrite, and was stingy with his ealth. The follo i g Qu ānic verses mentioned these qualities of the hypocrites: َ ََ‫إذاَق م اَإل َالصََةََق م اَكس ل َيراؤنََال َن س‬ َ) :‫يَ َ(النس ء‬ َ ً ‫لَ ق‬ َ َ ‫َّ إ‬ ََ ََ‫لَي ْذكر ن‬ And when they stand up for the prayer, they stand with laziness and to be seen of men, and they do not remember Allah but little (Q. 4:142) ( َ: ‫لَ ه ََْك ره نَ َ)الت ب‬ َ َ ‫لَي ْن نََإ‬ … a d that they offer ot o tri utio s but unwillingly (Q. 9:54) We have seen how ufassirī Qu ā o e tators) give deeper and boarder meanings of the above verses. (CIVIC, 17 February, 2017) :‫المراجع‬ ‫َالمكتب َالش م‬ )‫ َهـ‬1َ. (َ ‫ت سيرَالطبر‬ َ َ َ َ َ َ َ )َ‫َهـ‬ َ. (َ ‫ت سيرَال رطب‬ )‫َهـ‬ َ. (َ‫ت سيرَابنَكثير‬ َ) َ 6 َ-َ 6َ/َ‫ َهـ‬6َ-َ‫ت سيرَابنَعب سَ( َ َهـ‬ ) - 61َ/َ‫َهـ‬ - 6(َ‫ت سيرَالخ زن‬ The No le Qur ā : Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Muhammad Asad. The Message of Islam. Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall. The Glorious Qur ān. Abdullah Yusuf Ali. The Mea i g of the Holy Qur ān.َََََ